When I read a book purporting to give the facts of a person's life or a historical event and find mistakes in it, I begin to doubt the accuracy of the entire volume. I also begin to wonder what has happened to the kind of copy editor who used to bother to check an author's statements. I have just finished reading a piece of trash, The Duchess of Windsor by Charles Higham. It is supposedly filled with new revelations about the duchess who, by now, has been written about so much that it would seem impossible to uncover anything new. To me, the only surprise came with the statement that the duchess was born out of wedlock and never baptized.

The Merry Wives of Windsor might be the most trifling of Shakespeare's comedic trifles. But with its broad humor and a plot as slender as, well, its character Slender, Shakespeare in Clark Park proves the Merry Wives' mettle as a delightful outdoor accompaniment on a summer evening. This is Falstaff's command performance, written by Shakespeare in two weeks at the behest of Queen Elizabeth. She couldn't get enough of the big man in Henry IV , and wanted to see him try his luck with the ladies.

While all eyes are on Kentucky Derby champion Sea Hero in his quest for horse racing's Triple Crown and the $5 million bonus that goes with it, an unlikely colt from Maryland has risen to challenge him at the second hurdle - the Preakness Stakes. They call him Woodie, a very big and very playful bay colt whose development as a 3-year-old this spring has been a step behind the Derby crowd, but who now seems to have caught up, according to trainer Ben Perkins Jr. His name is Woods of Windsor, a son of Woodman and a grandson of the great Mr. Prospector.

The gymnasium of the Narberth Presbyterian Church, at Windsor and Gralying Avenues, was transformed Friday into the wonderland where one can meet that famous collection of extraordinary characters. At left, Jennifer McLean portrays Alice. At right, Sarah Tucker as the Mad Hatter prepares to pour for the March Hare, played by Austine Howard, and the Doormouse, played by Betsy Nielson.

While most of the cigar industry in south-central Pennsylvania has gone up in smoke, the sales of House of Windsor, a small manufacturer in this tiny York County town, increased 13 percent in 1988. The company predicts another increase for this year. It has not been easy, especially in an industry whose sales peaked in 1964 at 8.9 billion cigars and have fallen 72 percent to 2.5 billion cigars. In 1988, House of Windsor president John E. Woltman 3d and a partner bought the company from U.S. Tobacco Co. This year, Woltman bought out his partner's interest.

"Are we paying by the cliche?" asks the man named Windsor early in Do Not Go Gentle, the new play that opened Thursday at the Bristol Riverside Theatre. He's speaking to his cousin, Joanna, about the platitudinous estate-sale agent who's disposing of the contents of his dead mother's house. But the question might be echoed by anyone unlucky enough to encounter the stock characters and tired, leaden dialogue of this unfortunate enterprise. Suzan Zeder's play is set in the living room of the late Lillian Barron, an 84-year-old St. Louis woman who lived alone while her son was posted here and there by the Air Force - an employer of whom she disapproved.

The chairman of a committee rewriting Cherry Hill's rent control laws said he planned to resign tomorrow, citing differences with Mayor Susan Bass Levin and the president of the township tenants' association. Jerry Segal, president of the mayor's Rent Review Revision Committee, said in an interview yesterday that Levin was "interfering" with the committee's goal of drafting a fairer rent control law. "All these things have happened because of the Towers of Windsor case," Segal said, referring to the apartment complex where tenants were handed a 7.5 percent increase April 30. The increase, granted by the township's Rent Control Board, was made retroactive to April 1991 and caused Levin to introduce an ordinance last month banning retroactive rent increases.

Kensworth, East Pikeland Township, Chester County Martti Miettinen and his wife, Libby Keating, were still trying to get settled a few days after moving into their new house in Kensworth, but they were enjoying their surroundings while doing it. "There's lot of windows in the house, and we're smack in the middle of farmland," said Miettinen, who moved from Connecticut to the East Pikeland Township development. "We have some great views. "We're also into collecting art, and this gives us a great place to display it," he added.

Forward Steve Downie, the Flyers' 2005 first-round choice, is among three players the team signed yesterday. Downie signed a 3-year entry-level contract, as did forward Frederik Cabana, a sixth-round pick in 2004. Defenseman Jussi Timonen, a fifth-round pick in 2001, signed a 2-year deal. All three are expected to attend training camp. Downie, 19, likely will spend another year in juniors, assistant general manager Paul Holmgren said. He had 19 goals and 34 assists in 35 regular-season games for Windsor and Peterborough, of the Ontario Hockey League.

BOSTON - The mill boss who was hailed as a humanitarian for refusing to lay off his workers or stop their paychecks after a fire closed him down in 1995 announced yesterday that he is letting up to 300 employees go. Aaron Feuerstein kept paying hundreds of workers for weeks after the blaze destroyed three buildings at his Malden Mills in Lawrence just before Christmas. He said the fire was part of the reason for layoffs now. The layoffs amount to 10 percent of the company's worldwide work force of 3,000.

The Merry Wives of Windsor might be the most trifling of Shakespeare's comedic trifles. But with its broad humor and a plot as slender as, well, its character Slender, Shakespeare in Clark Park proves the Merry Wives' mettle as a delightful outdoor accompaniment on a summer evening. This is Falstaff's command performance, written by Shakespeare in two weeks at the behest of Queen Elizabeth. She couldn't get enough of the big man in Henry IV , and wanted to see him try his luck with the ladies.

Multimillion-dollar contracts don't buy what they used to, and for fans of the Union, the largesse bestowed upon David Beckham couldn't buy them a chance to hoot once again at the gaudy L.A. Galaxy hood ornament. Becks didn't make the trip to Chester for Wednesday night's Major League Soccer match at PPL Park. Galaxy coach Bruce Arena let him stay behind in Los Angeles to rest up for a Saturday home game. Arena shrugged and said that if the league wants one of its showcase attractions to show up for every game, then it shouldn't schedule three games in the space of 10 days.

They needed to swim the perfect meet, and even that might not have been enough. The Cherry Hill East girls' swim team ran into an overpowering opponent last night in the Central Public A finals. West Windsor South won nine of 11 events and displayed remarkable depth, too, in fashioning a 101-69 victory at North Brunswick High School. "They were amazing last year and they have all their studs back," Cherry Hill East coach Anita Ricci said. "They were just so strong. " Cherry Hill East got victories from junior Samantha Sides in the 50 freestyle and sophomore Marlee Ehrlich in the 500 freestyle.

In the end, there were no regrets. The Cherry Hill East girls' swimming team saved its best performance for last, according to coach Aniti Ricci. It just wasn't enough to beat the powerhouse from West Windsor-Plainsboro South. The Pirates won nine of 11 events and set three pool records in scoring a 93-77 victory over the Cougars last night in the Central Public A championship meet at North Brunswick High School. "In almost every event, we had our best time," Ricci said.

In a small office in West Conshohocken, a legendary stock market bottom feeder has been having a feast. John B. Neff, who racked up record gains as manager of Vanguard's Windsor Fund over three decades, is buying stocks again. And while the actions of one person may mean little in a multitrillion-dollar market, Neff's renewed romance with stocks signals that, to him, the worst is over. As of Friday, he has put cash that he had held on the sidelines for the last year back into the stock market.

Giancarlo Granese has not only a name befitting a soccer player, but also a style of play that sets him apart. Yesterday in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 3 boys' soccer championship game, Granese lived up to the name and the tenacious brand of soccer he plays by scoring four goals to lead top-seeded Ocean City in a 5-1 victory over visiting Kingsway. The win catapulted Ocean City (22-0-1) into the state semifinals against West Windsor North (13-7-1), the Central Jersey Group 3 champion, Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Toms River North.

Forward Steve Downie, the Flyers' 2005 first-round choice, is among three players the team signed yesterday. Downie signed a 3-year entry-level contract, as did forward Frederik Cabana, a sixth-round pick in 2004. Defenseman Jussi Timonen, a fifth-round pick in 2001, signed a 2-year deal. All three are expected to attend training camp. Downie, 19, likely will spend another year in juniors, assistant general manager Paul Holmgren said. He had 19 goals and 34 assists in 35 regular-season games for Windsor and Peterborough, of the Ontario Hockey League.

DAVID LETTERMAN, who knows a thing or two about stalkers, has been named in a temporary restraining order granted to Santa Fe's Colleen Nestler. What did Letterman do? According to Nestler's request filed last week, Letterman forced her into bankruptcy and has caused her "mental cruelty" and "sleep deprivation" since May 1994. She should watch Leno. Nestler requested that Letterman, who tapes his show in New York, stay at least three yards frrom her and not "think of me, and release me from his mental harassment and hammering.

David Fassnacht has measured up to tradition in his first 10 months at the helm of Vanguard Windsor Fund. The Wellington Management Co. partner, earning a 5.2 percent return in that period, beat the Standard & Poor's 500 index by 2.3 percentage points. Charles T. Freeman, his predecessor, beat the S&P 500 by 1.4 percentage points in his reign at Windsor, while John Neff, Windsor's patriarch, beat it by 3.15 percentage points over 31 years. (The comparison is not quite apples to apples.

ENGLAND hailed the wedding of commoners Thomas Crapper and Deborah Biltcliffe Saturday, at least according to the anti-monarchist Independent, which put the Crapper wedding on Page One. The slightly larger Windsor wedding went on Page 4, with the headline, "The end of the affair. " But that was the one brief moment of cattiness - even with Joan Rivers in attendance. The ceremony went smoothly, the guests were all smiles and the couple's jitters seemed sweetly endearing. Even Queen Elizabeth managed to pull herself away from watching the horse races long enough to pose for a wedding photo with Prince Charles and Camilla, the duchess of Cornwall.